Aggressiveness has been a hallmark of the Seahawks' ball-hawking defense, one that critics and admirers alike say often skirts the rules with little consequence from officials.

Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride retired earlier this month but he's still perfectly qualified to speak on the Seahawks' defense, which gave New York fits back in Week 15. When it was over, Seattle cruised to a 23-0 win, holding Eli Manning to 156 passing yards (to his own teammates, anyway) and a mind-boggling five interceptions.

That aggressiveness has been a hallmark of the Seahawks' ball-hawking defense, one that critics and admirers alike -- including Gilbride -- say often skirts the rules with little consequence from officials.

"If you think they're going to be called (for defensive holding or pass interference) and expect that to be the solution to the problem, you're going to be sadly mistaken," Gilbride told the Wall Street Journalrecently, adding that the Seahawks could be called for pass interference on nearly every play. "They've perfected the art."

Giants wide receiver Louis Murphy said Seattle's secondary "just don't seem to care about the rules," and former NFL VP of Officiating Mike Pereira thinks the Seahawks are taking advantage of the officials' inconsistently when it comes to throwing flags.

"They look at it and say, 'We may get called for one but not 10,'" Pereria noted.

Meanwhile, the NFL has instructed officials to call playoff games just like they called regular-season games.

"The philosophy in the postseason, the direction is no different from the regular season when we talk with our officials,” current VP of Officials Dean Blandino said, via PFT.com.

If this holds true for Saturday's NFC Divisional matchup between the Saints and Seahawks, Drew Brees and New Orleans' offense could be in for a long afternoon.

Ryan Wilson has been an NFL writer for CBS Sports since June 2011, and he's covered five Super Bowls in that time. Ryan previously worked at AOL's FanHouse from start to finish, and Football Outsiders...
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